Speaking in the run-up to the spring meeting of Ireland's Catholic bishops, the Bishop of Elphin Kevin Doran has compared homosexuality to Down's Syndrome and has also said rape victims should not have abortions as a way of getting back at the rapist.

Bishop Doran implied that being gay was a disability, when asked whether he believed being born gay could be what God intended: "That would be to suggest that if some people are born with Down's syndrome or Spina Bifida, that that was what God intended either," he said.

Currently the same-sex adoption bill is being discussed by the Irish Parliament. The country is holding an equal marriage referendum in May. Read More